Here is a movie that does stand out from others in terms of the plot and its target audience. Off-late most movies are taken keeping in mind the youth as its target audience and this “Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai” does differ and it caters to the section of viewers who are more intent on the story than on its star cast. The movie is an adaptation of a short story on the same name written by Bhaskar Shakthi and director Suseendran who is in charge of the screenplay and direction has made an honest attempt to showcase the story on silver screen making sure that the crux isn’t lost in the process.

To be honest the movie is more like a tale than a story as the film does not have any strong message to deliver to its audience. It is more like a R.K.Narayanan tale which are mostly on a lighter vein and just carries its viewers from start to finish. The film’s main character is the horse which is used as a metaphor in the scheme of things. The movie begins with the wooden horse used to carry the deity missing from its place which the villagers feel is a sign of bad things to come. Unassumingly they stumble across a real-life horse which belongs to Azhagarsamy (Appu Kutty) and once they bring the horse to their village, all good things begins to happen which makes the villagers believe that the horse has brought them good luck.

On the other hand there is Azhagarsamy who is desperate to find his horse and take it back to his village as his marriage to Rani (Saranya Mohan) is at stake if he fails to return with it as it is his source of income. Does Azhagarsamy get to find his horse and bring it back to his village or does the villagers who are holding Azhagarsamy’s horse get back their lost wooden horse is all about in the movie.

The screenplay is not so complicated as one would expect and to be honest director Suseendran could have emphasized more on the screenplay to make this a gripping tale told on silver screen. The movie does fall short of expectations on many counts. First, the first-half of the movie moves on a lighter vein with sequences laced with humor. Second, the humor which is supposed to bring the roof down fails to tickle even a bone. Third, Ilayaraja’s music which was considered to be the backbone of the film has turned out to be a disappointment and finally the unnecessary placement of songs pulls the pace of the movie down drastically.

“Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai” can be compared to the 1977 John Abraham directed “Agraharathil Kazhuthai” as the two stories have similar plot. However, the 1977 film scores heavily in terms of its reach to the audience. “Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai” fails to keep the audience glued to their seats in spite of it having a running time of 120 minutes only and its box office fate looks dicey at the moment.

Editing by Kasi Viswanathan could have been more crisper while the cinematography by Theni Eshwar is commendable especially the scenes where the picturesque locales forms the background. There is also Prabhakaran who dons the role of Ramakrishnan and Advaitha in the role of Devi who form the perfect support cast. The comedy track where the Malayalee tantric comes fails to evoke any laughter and this portion could have been well constructed. Saranya Mohan who has limited screen time fails to create an impact. Appu Kutty for whom this role is a dream come true has displayed his acting skills to perfection.

Director Suseendran after a trend setter in “Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu” and an absolute entertainer in “Naan Mahaan Alla” has come up with a film that has got nothing to boast off.